light in Purgatory
by MishaIsMyAngel
Summary: Dean and Castiel are in purgatory, surrounded by a mob of demons ready to kill them both. They're weak and nearly helpless but, suddenly, someone comes in and saves them. A lost family member appears and a moment long over-due happens.
1. Chapter 1

This was it. Dean and Cas were about to be defeated by a raging army of demons surrounding them on every side. They came closer to each other, ready to die together, knowing it would be slow and painful, but there was really nothing more they could do at that point. Dean was as good as dead, his arms and chest were bleeding from being repeatedly cut into and hit, but there was no chance that he'd give up without fighting 'till his last remaining breath; Cas wasn't in very bad shape, mostly because he still had some healing powers left over from his time as an angel of the Lord, but he was beginning to weaken as well, the cuts had stopped healing as fast as they did before when there were less of them and his blood loss was escalating quickly. The two braced themselves for agony and suffering, but nothing seemed to be happening, other than a few screams coming from the crowd of monsters around them.

Suddenly, Dean caught a glimpse of what was saving them; a girl, not older than sixteen, throwing daggers at the demons' hearts, rendering them unable to move as they hit the ground, fighting for breath. She took a bow and started firing arrows with great precision, killing a dozen demons like it was nothing. Cas and Dean watched in surprise when she started going around in big circles, killing off more demons. Some of them were still trying to fight their way through, but they too were dead at the hands of the two men. As more and more demons came in to replace the dead ones, even more mad than the previous bunch, they started going for the girl, but she was faster than the lot of them, making swift and efficient movements with a knife, she killed half of them before new recruits could come in to replace the fallen.

She took a small knife and cut her palm, letting the blood drip across her hand and onto the ground, making a strangely shaped puddle. She smiled, still holding the knife in hand, waiting for something to happen. As two dozen more demons came rushing in through a cave opening, she cut something into her hand and hit the ground with great force. A flash of light threatened to blind Dean, but Cas covered their eyes with his hands, probably knowing something like this was going to happen. When the light went out and the place was back to its former dark self, Cas took his hand off of Dean's face. They instantly jumped up, ready to fight back more demons, but all that greeted them was the motionless body of their saviour on the ground. Dean ran to her, checking for any signs of life, while Cas examined what she was doing with the blood.

"She's alive."- Dean said anxiously. There was only so many places they could go for safety without risking another demon attack, or something worse.

"She used a banishing symbol for the demons... They're long gone."- Cas concluded after looking at the mark she'd made on her wrist. The symbol was a small pentagram with Enochian signs in front of every tip, finished with a circle surrounding it.

"No wonder she's like this, i guess."- Dean said, looking at the body of the little girl who just saved their lives,- "Can you do anything to help her?"

"I can try."- he hesitated, unsure if they should trust the girl completely. After a few seconds of thinking through his many plans, he took a deep breath and placed his palm on the girl's forehead. A flash of light made Dean's vision blur, but when it came back to normal, she had her eyes wide open in panic.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the two men, and she jumped up with her knife at the ready. Dean approached her with his arms out, trying to let her know that they weren't planning on hurting her. She put her knife back on her belt and examined Dean slowly and surely, circling around him, sniffing the air and touching his clothes and hair. He was hoping that the girl would back off, but what she did next was completely unexpected. She jumped on him and put her arms around his waist, squeezing so hard that it threatened to punch the air out of Dean's lungs. Cas jumped up, startled by the close contact, but probably realised that she wasn't going to fight them.

"Who are you?"- he asked after a few seconds of uneasy silence between the three.

She looked up at Cas, backing away from Dean slowly. She now started to look at him, just like she did the other one moments earlier. And, just as she did with Dean, she jumped into a hug with Cas too. He looked shocked but didn't back away or try to get her off of him, he just stood there completely still until she decided to let go. The two men exchanged worried looks, as they were unsure about what to do next.

The girl smiled softly, and Dean could see that she had dimples on her cheeks, just like Cas did. That was one of the things Dean loved about his angel, along with his deep,blue eyes and dark hair, which, when he looked closer, she had too. The same happened with Cas, as well; he noticed that the girl had freckles on her nose and cheeks, and he could see that she had bowed legs, slightly less than Dean did, but they were still bowed the same way. They looked at each other without a clue about what was going on and who the hell that girl was.

"Who are you?"- Cas repeated louder, which made the girl back a few steps away from them, looking vulnerable in the way her eyes got teary and the warm smile faded away.

"I- I'm your daughter."- she coughed, obviously unfamiliar with talking, which wasn't odd down here; some people, or, the things that were once people, spend so much time alone here that they lose the ability to speak to others, becoming no different from some of the monsters creeping all around them; they become wild, blood-thirsty and evil as they come to adjust to the style of living in a place far worse than Hell; that is, if they don't get captured, tortured ,or just go insane because of the solitude, which is the best out of the three.

"You're his _what_?"- Dean asked shockingly before looking at Cas, who seemed as confused as anyone.

"I'm not _just_ his... I'm yours, too."- she smiled, allowing herself to get closer again.

A moment of silence fell over this strange trio; Dean was trying to figure out how he and a fallen angel, who was a man, could have a child; Castiel was wondering how she could be down here of all places, all alone and protected by only her killing skills and obvious magical abilities; the girl, however, was wondering why her cuts weren't healed yet, they usually take mere seconds to go back to their normal self. Finally, someone broke the, now, awkward pause.

"Well, we all know that's not possible."- Dean protested.

He wouldn't allow himself to admit this, but part of him wanted it, all of it, to be true; there was really no way that she _was_ their daughter, he thought, but it would be nice if they had one, maybe in the future, if they had one.

"Dean..."- Cas said quietly, pointing at a marking on the girl's right hand wrist, which they both just then noticed. It resembled an anti-possession symbol, but it had wings on the sides. The mark wasn't familiar to Dean, but Cas seemed to know what it was.

"What, Cas?"- he asked, still looking at the mark on the girl's hand.

She looked at them both with anticipation, hoping that they would tell her what she thought was true for all the years she spent in this Hell hole. The hope rose in her chest, threatening to take away her breath, but she inhaled deeply, bracing herself.

"She's a child of the Lord... made of a strong bond between two people and, apparently, we are those two people, in this case."- he answered quietly, not taking his eyes off of Dean's.

"So...So what does this mean then? I have a kid with a dude?"- Dean panicked.

He wasn't ready for a kid with any woman, let alone a man, yet. Granted it is the man that he loves, and he could never have love with a woman, ever. But this was all a bit much to take in at once.

"A _dude_ that you love!"- the girl said cheerfully, now only a few feet away from both of the men, but she made a confused face after she finished the sentence. - "What's a dude?"

"It means male human being."- Cas explained and, after seeing Dean's confused face, added,-"She doesn't understand modern English that well, apparently."

She nodded slowly, seeming confused again,-"What does planet mean?"

Dean gave out an exasperated sigh, looking at the girl and trying to find a sign telling him that this is all a trap, but he couldn't; nothing was wrong with her.

"It's the place where we all live."- he answered instead of Cas, figuring that his answer might lead to more questions, which they really didn't have time for,-"Above here, where there aren't as many monsters."

"Oh..."- she said, nodding her head like she just understood everything there is to know about the topic.

"What's your name, anyway?"- Dean asked curiously, trying to make it seem like he didn't really care when, in fact, he wanted to know everything about his so-called daughter made from nothing except love.

"My name is Anya..."- she answered after a few seconds of hesitating.

"That is a very good name."- Cas said, trying to turn the conversation in a good direction before Dean could make it into a negative one again.

"Thank you...Adam named me."- she smiled at them both, looking at something in the distance.

"Adam?"- Dean jumped up after hearing the name.- "Adam Milligan? Where is he?"

"Adam... I don't remember his last name."- she answered frightfully,- "He found me a while back when a demon was trying to kill me; he saved my life, took me in and gave me a name. We live in a cave near here, do you want to meet him?"

"I know him..."- Dean said quietly. - "I left him here to rot... He was my brother."

"Isn't he still your brother?"

"Take us to him."

The cave where Anya said she and Adam lived was near the place where she saved Cas and Dean. There was a small passage way; a long tunnel in some boulders, dividing their part of the place and the demons'. They passed through it... Well, she passed through, and they crawled, squeezed and barely got through the long space.

"It's there."- she smiled and pointed to a small hole in the rocks that did resemble a cave or sorts.

Dean was a little hesitant when the time came to go inside of the cave but, when Cas went right in there, he decided that it was probably safe to do so too. The cave itself was a rather complex system of passages and tunnels, which would have made it easy for someone to get lost, but Anya seemed to know the way by heart. They made their way into a large, round, room-like space. There was salt on the ground, packed in large boxes and small, portable ones; there were a bunch of guns and knives on the walls as well, which made Dean worried for some reason. He remembered all of their hotel rooms looking like that, back when he was Anya's age... And he couldn't help but wonder if he could have prevented her life being like this in some way. The rough sound of something heavy being moved made both Dean and Cas jump up and ready their weapons, but they put them down after realising it was Anya moving a large boulder, unveiling a hidden opening in the walls of the cave.

She went in, gesturing the two to stay there and wait. They exchanged looks, but decided to listen to her anyway, sitting on the cold stone floor and trying not to snoop as much as they both wanted to.

"Adam?"- she said quietly, looking for the only person to ever make her feel safe, and there he was, reposing on the floor with his body covered in old animal fur that they got from their first hunt together. She could hear his loud breathing breaking the silence in the otherwise very quiet room.

"Adam?"- she repeated louder, hoping it wouldn't be necessary to wake him up forcefully. Instead of hitting him over the head, she laid down next to him, letting Adam's warm breath tingle her cold nose. She never liked Adam in a romantic sense, contrary to what some of the demons would think when they would walk past the two; he was too good a friend to her, more of a brother than a boyfriend; sure, there was an enormous amount of love between her and Adam, but they never explored the option of being together like that in a place as unforgiving as this one. Anya closed her eyes and let the sweet smell of Adam's jacket comfort her.

A flashback took her a few years back in time.

It was the day she and Adam met, back when she was just nine or so years old. A demon had tied her up in chains and was getting ready to peel her skin off with a knife. Before that, he'd cut her stomach and hands so much that she was starting to lose consciousness, feeling weak and tired with every breath she took. Just as he was about to land another cut on her wrist, just where her mark was, an arrow hit him straight in the forehead and he fell to the ground, still shaking and grasping for breath as blood started to drip from the wound. A warm hand touched hers, making Anya jump up in fear.

"It's okay, hey... I'm not gonna hurt you."- a soft voice comforted her. Minutes later, the chains fell to the ground with a loud bang, but she didn't care about the noise. She was free after all those days of torture that seemed more like years down here, and she wasn't going to risk getting chained up again. In a desperate attempt to get away, she started running as fast as possible, but it didn't last for long. The nausea and blood-loss got to Anya as she fell to the ground in agony, screaming the names of people known to both of them; Castiel and Dean. He got to where she fell and immediately noticed a large pool of blood surrounding her body; only, it wasn't making the typical shape of a puddle, no, it was making the shape of wings; bloody and red, stretching ten feet on each side of the , now, motionless body of a little girl.

"Oh shit..."- Adam said desperately,- "No no no, don't die! Don't you dare die!"- he yelled out, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was everywhere.

Suddenly, a flash of white light started gushing through her body, fixing the cuts as it moved from limb to limb. Adam stared in disbelief at the body fixing itself without the slightest idea as to how she was doing so. The healing lasted an hour or so, all the while he was holding her hand and hoping she'd be okay. After a couple of moments silence and darkness, Anya finally coughed and took a deep breath. She sat up instantly, clinging to Adam like he was a life-raft and she was drowning. She remained that way up until she fell asleep, which was when Adam decided it was safe to carry her to where he was staying at the time.

That morning, if you could call it that down here, she woke up in bruises and blood was streaming out of her mouth. Anya looked around for her weapons, remembering that the demon used them to torture her, and dismissed the idea of ever using them again. Adam was in front of her, roasting some animals on a small fire; the smell was intoxicating and made her mouth water. She coughed some blood up, but it didn't hurt; her head was pulsating and so was her chest, but there was no pain what so ever. Adam turned around and his eyes widened when he saw a fresh blodd puddle next to her body.

"It's okay.."- he whispered - "You're okay. I'm here, don't worry."

he covered Anya with his old jacket, making her feel warm and safe by the fire and, from that day, Adam was the only person she could ever trust or love, and the only person to truly make her not be as scared when the nightmares about being back in chains and getting butchered came back to haunt her in her sleep.

A cough made her snap back into reality.

Adam's eyes were wide open and looking at her and, when she opened hers, the warmest smile you could imagine appeared on both their faces as they hugged one another. She instinctively crawled into his jacket, the thing that would always calm her down, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"What's wrong?"- he cupped Anya's face with his hands, making her feel better. He was worried, obviously, but she didn't want to burden him with something even she couldn't begin to comprehend.

"Someone wants to see you."- she said, worried about how he would react to hearing Deans name after all this time.

"Who?"- he asked hesitantly, looking around the room, but there was nothing to see.

"My parents... Dean and Castiel."

As soon as he heard the names, Adam jumped up and pulled her, too, looking scared and excited at the same time. They ran back into the larger room, where Dean and Cas were sitting on the floor and whispering about something. Their heads turned to face their hosts; silence fell as Deans and Adams eyes met; Cas pulled away, and Anya followed, because neither of them wanted to get in the way of the 'brotherly' reunion about to begin.

Truthfully, both of them were hoping that Dean and Adam would just shake hands and be done with it,but they also knew that was highly unlikely to happen.

"You!"- Adam yelled with anger.- "You left me here to rot for all this time and, what, now you've come back?"

"Woah, calm down, Adam."- Dean tried to reason with his younger brother, but Adam wouldn't have it.- "I tried, okay, but I could only save one of you... It was you or Sammy."

"Of course it was, you asshole! That's the point of making a deal with Death, you never get all you want!"

"I'm sorry about what happened, but I'd do it all again if I had to!"- Dean yelled back and pointed to Anya who was now hiding behind Cas' back,- "Look at what you did for her, you saved her!"

This made Adam back down. Taking a deep breath and putting on a fake smile, he approached her with caution. She was shivering underneath her angelic dad's trench coat, but when she heard Adams calm voice, she got out and crawled under his jacket instead.

"Why does she do that?"

"I don't know... She just started doing it a few years back. I suppose it's her way of calming down, but she seems to need it every time something bad happens."

Adam looked at her with sadness in his pale green eyes; she lifted her head and looked straight into those eyes, making a faint smile, before burying herself back into the jacket.

"She really loves you, huh?"

Adam nodded with a smile on his face.- "I guess it's because I'm the only thing down here that hasn't tried to kill her."- he answered, putting his hand around Anya's shoulder, which made her look up again.- "She doesn't like to talk a lot, though... Sometimes I talk for hours to her, and all she does is listen. She _can_ talk... Even in more than one language."

"She speaks fluid English and got that from... us, I suppose."

"What is she anyway?"- Dean asked, and after seeing the baffled look on each of their faces, explained his question,- "I mean, is she human or angel?"

"Both, I think. She can heal and, well, you saw how good she is at killing things."

"I speak Latin, also."- she said quietly, somewhere inside of Adam's jacket.

"Yeah, that's right. She can do all sorts of things with her blood; make dozens of demons disappear, heal someone that can't do that on their own. She's got magic, that's for sure."

"It's not dangerous, though."- she said, raising her head and crawling out of Adam's jacket.

"What else can you do?"- Dean wanted to know.

She smiled softly, before taking his hand and chanting something again. Cas looked worried, but there was no reason for him to be.

"What is she doing?"- asked Castiel, looking intrigued by what was going on in front of him.

"She's reading his mind, I think."

A couple of seconds later, she opened her eyes and pulled away slowly, smiling at Adam then at Cas, before looking back at Dean. He looked slightly ashamed for some reason.

"Are there always so many women in your head?"- she asked, and everyone could see that Dean felt uncomfortable.- "And do they always wear so little clothes?"

"Woah, no need for that talk."- Adam laughed and pulled her back, wrapping his hand around her shoulders again.

The rest of the day was spent talking about what was happening back on Earth, and there was really a lot to talk about on that topic. After eating some un-known animal that Adam managed to find outside, they spent an hour making Anja levitate salt and arrange it in the shape of a devil's trap; she got pretty good at it after a couple of tries.

That night, Cas and Dean curled up together in the big space because Adam and Anya didn't have another bed for them, and the other room was small as is without them inside. It was already very late, or at least it felt like it was, and Dean poked Cas to wake him up. His eyes opened and a smile crept up on his face when they met Dean's.

"Cas."- he whispered, hoping that he wouldn't wake the others up.

"Yes, Dean?"- Cas asked, not at all bothered by Dean waking him up in the middle of the night. Angels don't need to sleep, after all, and it wasn't uncommon for Cas to stay up and look after Dean while he got the few hours of sleep he could.

"Can you believe it? We have a freaking kid."

"Well, she is very real... And the resemblance is obvious."

"She's so beautiful..."- Dean whispered sleepily.-"She looks just like you... The eyes and hair...The powers."

"She has your freckles and lips..."- Cas added, focusing on those same lips he just mentioned, hoping that Dean wouldn't push him away after doing so.

"Yeah..."- he agreed.

He looked Cas straight in the eyes, feeling a strange, but warm sensation in his stomach. A chill went down Dean's spine, threatening to take away the moment he was enjoying so much. Dean took a deep breath and braced himself for what he was going to do next; one simple act that would change their relationship forever; ten seconds of bravery that could mean the difference between finally being happy with someone he loves, and forever keeping his feelings locked up. Before he could act, Cas' lips hit his with such softness and warmth than he was prepared for; it was better than Dean ever imagined it would be, kissing Cas, his one and only love. Neither of them wanted to break away from that moment so they fell asleep holding each other like that, their legs tangled up, their arms on the other one's chest and shoulder, and their foreheads touching. Nothing could make Dean feel better than this moment' absolutely nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Adam woke up early the next morning to go hunting for breakfast, but he immediately felt something was out of place. There was no warm breath on his chest, he couldn't feel another heartbeat besides his own; Anya wasn't there. He jumped up in panic, looking around the small fraction of the cave in search of her, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. He moved the large rock that divided their area from the main cave entrance and started looking around. He saw Dean and Cas sleeping, tangled up in strange positions and sharing one thin pillow, which made a smile creep up on his face. He continued looking in every crack in the cave wall and every other side room he knew of, but Anya was nowhere to be found.

"Anya!"- he yelled out, hoping that she would hear him and come back; nothing happened.

He started panicking and running around in large circles outside of their cave, looking wherever his legs would carry him. She wasn't at the lake, the only source of drinkable water in a ten mile radius; he looked for her on their favourite cliff, hoping she would be sitting there and looking for something to hunt, but he had no luck at finding her. Suddenly, after nearly an hour of looking, yelling her name and even asking some of the friendlier demons outside of their secluded area, he remembered one more place she could have gone to. It was a long shot because they hadn't been there in nearly three years, but Adam had nothing to lose; everything he had in the world was the very thing he was looking to find.

There was a huge boulder a mile away from their cave that they used to use for monitoring demons' whereabouts in case of attack, back when there were demons in that area and they posed a threat to the two. They used to sit up there for hours, listening for any sign of danger and, if such a thing would come near them, they'd kill it. Anya never liked killing something that didn't try to hurt them, but she adjusted to the style of living after one day when a group of demons tried to kill Adam while he was hunting. She killed all of them with one of her angel 'tricks' and no other monster ever stepped foot near that place again.

He climbed the boulder quickly, looking up at the top to see if she was there. Somewhere over the middle of the climb he could hear someone moving around up there; his heart started beating faster and a gust of hope ran through Adam's chest.

"Anya?"- he asked full of hope and, when a familiar shadow fell onto the side of the boulder, he smiled with relief; climbing faster and faster up the 20 foot tall rock until he reached a flat surface and stopped to take a breath.

Just as he had hoped, she was sitting on the edge of the boulder and looking down the deserted valley up ahead, trying to find anything worth hunting down.

"What are you doing up here? You scared the hell out of me!"- he said worryingly and, when he saw that she had blood streaming down her wrists, proceeded to speed towards her with fear in his eyes,-"What happened? Did a demon do this to you?"

"No, it's nothing."- she answered sharply, twisting her hands so Adam couldn't see the blood,-"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, obviously."- he said harshly before sitting down next to her,-"Let me see that."

He wrapped his hands around Anya's wrists and pulled them closer to himself, examining the cuts; they were deep and straight, probably made with a small knife, which means that only she could have done that.

"Did you do this to yourself?"- he asked shockingly, looking straight into her eyes.

"They'll heal, don't worry."

"_Don't worry_? You've been acting weird since last night, and I wanna know what's wrong!"

"Calm down, I'll heal."

"It's not about you healing a couple of cuts, Anya! It's you wanting to hurt yourself that matters."

"I didn't...I don't want to hurt myself!"

"Then what the hell are you doing up here alone? And what did you make those for?"- he asked, pointing at the cuts that were already beginning to heal.

"You wouldn't understand."- said Anya, trying to sound calm and not burst out yelling at him.

"Then explain it to me."

"I don't want to."

"Explain or I'll make Cas read your mind and tell me."- he threatened, knowing there was probably no chance of a fallen angel being able to do such a thing.

She sighed, looking emotionless and worn down.

"I'm trying to make myself feel pain."- she answered and, thinking that she hadn't explained well enough, picked up her knife and cut the wrist of her left hand, making it bleed abundantly.

"What are you doing?"- Adam yelled, wrapping his jacket around the wound to stop the bleeding, but she moved it and looked at the cut absently.

"_Nothing.._."- she said after a couple of seconds,-" I don't feel anything! I _can't_ feel anything!"

Anya cupped her face with her, now completely healed, hands and let out a quiet sob.

"That's what this is about? You not being able to feel anything?"

She nodded with her head on her knees, too tired to protest or fight.

"You're half-angel for God sake, you aren't meant to feel."

"But you are!"- she yelled out through tears that were now streaming down her face; suddenly, all the things that kept her up at night for the last couple of months came rushing through her head and she had nothing else to do but get them out in the open,-"You can feel _everything_! When you get cut, you feel pain; when we hunt something big you smile because you're happy; when you hug me, you feel warm and safe and you love. You can feel. And I can never have that, no matter how many times i get hurt, no matter how many people, demons or monsters i kill, i will _never_ feel anything!"

They turned face to face, both of them had tears streaming down their faces but only one could feel the reason for that. In that moment, those couple of seconds they spent just looking into each others eyes, Adam and Anya realised how broken they really were inside.

"Do you know what I saw with those two yesterday, Adam?"- she asked after that moment of silence,-"I saw how much they love each other... How much they're willing to sacrifice to keep the other one safe. Hell, I was born out of that love! So how can you feel the same towards _me_ knowing that we will never have what they have? How can you go on day after day, loving a shell that only looks like a human being, incapable of loving you back?"

He took a deep breath, looking away from her tear covered cheeks and bloody hands for a couple of seconds, before turning back to face her.

"When you're with me..."- he managed to smile faintly,-"I don't feel like we're in here or that there are demons and hell hounds and all sorts of other bastards around us; and, sure, I don't feel safe knowing that I have two people to take care of every day, but do you know what I do feel? Whenever you crawl up under my jacket I get this tingle feeling right here..."- Adam put his hand on his stomach,-"and you know what gets me through all the blood and pain and evil down here? It's not the thought of going back up there; it's not someone who's normal, because I'm not normal either...It's you. It has always been you, ever since the day we met I've had this need to protect you and ever since that day I've loved you more than I have anyone who has ever been able to love me back. So no, you're not a broken shell of a person, you're a damaged half-human, and i love you as is."

There was another long silence, broken only by Anya and Adam's uneven breathing and occasional wiping of their cheeks. Suddenly, like it was planned from he get-go, they fell into each others arms and stayed twisted up in a tight hug for almost an hour; she was apologising for cutting her wrists and he was apologising for yelling at her because of the cuts.

"I won't do it again, I promise."- said Anya, leaning her forehead against Adam's.

"Just promise you won't do anything stupid, okay?"- he asked quietly.

"If I was going to take my own life, I would have done it by now and spared you the heartbreak, Adam."

He smiled without reason; maybe it was because he knew that Anya wasn't thinking about going anywhere soon, seeing as she didn't try to kill herself when she had the chance; or maybe it was because he realised that she admitted to loving him in a way.

"Wanna go back?"- asked Adam after another couple of minutes passed by; she spent them curled up under his jacket and listening to the sound of his heart breathing faster than usual, letting the warmth of his breath make her sleepy.

She shook her head as a negative response to her question and closed her eyes, taking in the sweet smell of his shirt that she came to love during all of their years spent together. She drifted off to sleep with the lullaby of Adam's heartbeat and breathing soothing her pulsating head.

He eventually carried Anya back to the cave and set her down to sleep, making sure to cover her with his jacket and light a fire so she wouldn't get cold. Dean and Cas were already awake and making food, so there was nothing Adam had to worry about, at least for the time being.


	3. Chapter 3

It's been a couple of hours since Adam and Anya came back from their busy morning. Cas and Dean are out, looking for a way to get them all out of Purgatory as soon as possible and, if they can, as safely as possible. They should be back soon, but Adam lost track of time, the only thing he's focusing on is planning their supply run. See, every once in a while, Adam and Anya need to go get supplies they otherwise can't have due to locational reasons. For instance, they can't make weapons because they don't have metal or iron, but some monsters near the lake, which is far from their cave, found a mine and they dig there. Well, they don't, but their prisoners and servants do, souls that need their debts paid soon and quickly, so they work in the mines. Some never get out, but a very fortunate few manage to pay their years worth and get out. Once the goods are dug out and ready to be made into weapons, the Cyclopes, which are native to both Hell and Purgatory, come in with their meta;-bending and fire-controlling powers to make the weapons needed. They don't ask for anything in return except respect, which the demons are more than glad to pretend to give them. After the weapons are made, which just happens to be every so called third day of the year, but down here time is measured differently, mostly according to feeling or special long-term guests in Purgatory who have been here for so long that they've made special calendars, they are sent to the demons and other high-ranking monsters for a certain price each, and then they're bargained for.

Today, the two need to get four weapons, which they'll pay for in fresh hell hound meat and werewolf fur. It's supposed to even out in the end you know, kill a couple monsters and get something to kill more with in return, but at the end of the day it's just another hunt for Adam and Anya. They've grown accustomed to that style of living over the course of their time in Purgatory. It's better than most of the deals other people get down here, so they don't complain when it's time to pay up.

"Hey, wake up."- Adam whispers softly into Anya's ear. She's sound asleep, but it's getting late and they really need to get some hell hounds for the trade. If they're late, the demons will shorten their weapon deal by half, and they won't have much use of only two weapons when there's twice as more people in need of them.

"Wake up, Anya..."- he says louder, poking her back after laying down next to her. She turns around and faces him, but her eyes are still closed.

"Why?"- she asks quietly, still refusing to open her eyes.

"We need to go trade in for weapons, remember?"- Adam reminds her and removes a stray lock of her wavy brown hair off of her forehead. She smiles faintly at that gesture and opens her eyes, looking straight into Adam's.

"Hell hounds?"- she asks in order to remember, it's been a long time since they had to hunt those in order to trade, they usually need just a couple of mutant arachnid legs and poison bags, but today's a different day. After all, they have double the human power they had last year.

"Yeah, so we'd better go now, you know they like to put up a fight."

"I'm way ahead of you."- she smiles and jumps up, walking quickly to their wall and picking up two of their remaining knives and one machete. She tosses the knife over to Adam and puts the other one on her belt, ready to take out and cut into a monster.

Adam's relieved to see her so excited, but there's still that amount of worry over the fact that she's like that because they're going to kill something. It's not really an event to be cheerful about, after all. But it's better than hurting herself, so he doesn't say anything after jumping up and tightening his grip on the knife.

They walk out of the cave and across the empty field, crawling out through the rock opening. They pass the small deserted area and walk into demon territory, which is a breeding ground for hell hounds and you're bound to run into a few if you know where and how to look. Fortunately, Adam and Anya are proud to admit that they've become quite the experts on luring the hounds out over the years.

"You go straight up and I'll cut them off, okay?"- Adam whispers when they walk to one of the bigger hell hound territories.

"Don't miss."- she asks knowing that, on more than one occasion, she had a tough time healing the bites and worse injuries when Adam missed the hounds, and the other way around.

"I promise."- he winks and starts walking around the field in a large circle, looking around for any sign of hell hound tracks or movement. Something making dusty clouds near Anya catches his eye and, with one swift move, he throws the knife and blood comes gushing out of the invisible creature. It makes a terrible, painful noise and falls silent just a couple seconds later. Their first hell hound for the day is dead.

"Nice one."- Anya compliments him and continues walking around and checking for any other animals.

In the course of the next couple of hours, they manage to kill seven hell hounds and skin them, putting the raw meat into a large, bloodied up sack and get it ready for the trade. Adam spots another hound on their way back and, thinking it would be good to have some meat left over for their own purposes, tells Anya to circle around it and look for an open shot at killing it.

"Don't miss."- he taunts her, walking in a straight line towards the hound. It growls as soon as it senses his scent in the air, because Purgatory hell hounds have no eyes, making it harder for them to survive and feed.

He stands right in front of the hound, waiting for a chance to cut into it and hopefully kill it on the spot. They never liked to torture anything down here, not even something that really deserved it, because of personal experience in that particular area. Anya gets distracted by something moving behind Adam, ignoring the hound she knows is in front of him. Everything that follows happens in a split second; the first hound attacks Adam and knocks him down with great force, clawing into his chest manically and his blood starts gushing everywhere; Anya throws her knife at it and another gush of blood announces that it's dead, but more problems are made when the other hell hound comes rushing towards her, biting into her neck before she has a chance to move away and avoid impact.

"Anya!"- Adam screams desperately, but she can't hear anything but the loud roaring of the monster that's taking large bites out of her neck and arms. It starts clawing her chest and stomach, making her meat and skin burn and her scream out in agony.

"Help... Adam!"- she screams, trying to fight off the hound with only her bare hands. It's relentless and obviously not weakened by her hitting it forcefully.

Adam manages to get up on his feet, fighting the nausea made by the blood loss and pulling out the knife out of the dead hell hound and throwing it towards the one that's currently ripping Anya's face with its claws.

The knife plunges itself into the hound's chest just as it raises its body to make one final cut that would end her life. It bleeds out seconds later, but Anya's still motionless on the ground next to it.

"Anya..."- he gasps for air, trying to make it to her, but he falls to the ground and continues crawling on his knees in a desperate attempt to help her in any way.

As soon as he gets to her bloody body that's shaking and pale, he gasps and holds back tears.

"It's okay, Anya... You're okay, really."- he tries to smile confidently, but all that he lets out is a deep sob before breaking down into tears.

"Adam..."- she manages to say before coughing out a large amount of blood. She puts her palms, the only part of her body that wasn't ripped, cut or bitten into, on his cheeks and smiles fake.

He looks up, wiping the blood off of her face and praying, which is a rather rare and unusual thing to do in Purgatory, specially for someone that's been here for so long.

"I didn't miss."- she winks before taking in a deep breath. They both notice that she hasn't started to heal yet, but neither mention that fact.

"No... no you didn't."- he smiles,-"You didn't miss..."

Adam falls onto the ground next to her, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulder and putting the other one on her cheek.

"If I don't make it, Adam-"

"Don't say that! We'll both be fine, just wait until you start healing, it'll be over in no time."

"If I don't make it..."- she says again, louder and Adam doesn't interrupt her this time,-"I want you to do something for me."

"What?"

"You need to remember something, and promise you'll never let yourself forget."- Anya says, no, orders him.

"I promise, you know I do."

"You need to remember that someone loves you, Adam Milligan, someone has loved you since the day they met you and you can never forget that. I will always love you. Don't forget."

These words make Adam do something he never knew he would. He puts his palms on Anya's cheeks and their lips collide forcefully. Neither wants to let go, neither wants to forget this moment.

"I love you too."- he whispers after they break away from the strong grip they had on each other. She smiles faintly before looking into Adam's deep blue eyes that always watched over her. She remembers how they used to laugh together and sleep in the same bed to make the other warm and safe, the time she took a couple of days to heal and he never left her side, not even to eat or sleep. She thinks about the day he saved her life and became her family; the day he taught her how to handle a knife and how to trade with demons and skin hell hounds. All of those memories come rushing through Anya's cluttered mind as she takes her last breath. She looks at him long enough to notice that his smile has faded and got replaced by manic screaming of her name.

A pair of large black wings char themselves into the stony ground, announcing that an angel has died and is never to come back. Anya's gone, but a part of her will forever stay with Adam, as a part of him will be taken along with her. They might be separated, but they'll never be apart. Not really.


	4. Chapter 4

Adam spent a long time laying next to Anya's motionless body, hoping he would just wake up an it would all have been just a bad dream and she would be laying next to him alive and well, asking to crawl underneath his jacket and put her arms around his waist. But, he knew that this was all real, all of it. The two dead hell hounds laying bloody on the ground made it clear that this was just what he feared it was - the gruesome reality of the life he will now have to continue living without the only person making all the suffering worth while. He knew that Anya was gone, but he wasn't about to stop fighitng for her just because a pair of black wings charred themselves into the ground. They mean nothing to him, and he sure as Hell isn't gonna lay there and go on without her. He can't do that.

So, he jumps up quickly, ignoring the black spots that threaten to blind him. He's lost a lot of blood because of his injuries, but he still needs to go on. He picks up Anya's body and carries her to a nearby river that used to be a drinking ground for the hounds they've killed, but it's uninhabited at the moment. He picks some herbs, nothing special, but the symbolism is something they both treasured when she was still alive. Adam makes a raft out of some dry wood and puts the body in it, letting the bouquet of freshly picked flowers bring some light into the otherwise bloody mess of what used to be the most beautiful girl he's ever seen. Before letting the raft go down stream and disappear in the distance, he cleans her face with the fresh water and kisses her forehead.

"I'll see you soon."- he promises and wipes the tears off his bloody cheeks.

After sitting on the shoreline for a few minutes, contemplating if he should go to the trade or back to the cave, Adam sets out to meet the demons and make the day's tragedy worth something. He can see them as soon as he enters the vast valley a few miles away from the river; there are two demons and one Cyclops. They look both relieved and annoyed to see Adam when he approaches them, but neither say a word until he speaks.

"Eight hounds and two werewolf skins."- he says harshly, throwing the two bloody sacks on the ground.

One of the demons nods and puts his hand, holding two blades and two knives, out towards Adam.

"No."- he shakes his head, looking at the demon,-"I need something else. Keep the weapons."

The two demons look at one another, it's obviously something that doesn't happen to them very often- a trader changing the rules set by themselves.

"What is it that you want, boy?"- the older demon says, ignoring the deep sigh of boredom let out by the large Cyclops.

"Information."- Adam answers simply,-"I need to know how to bring someone back from the dead."

"Oh, you are quite the funny one, aren't you?"- the demons laugh in unison,-"Why do you think we know how to do something like that?"

"I know who you are, and what you're capable of. Now tell me or the trade is off."- he says angrily.

"Threatening demons, that's not very bright of you..."

"Not bright at all, no, no..."

"Who have you lost?"

"And why do you risk dying to save them?"

They smile deviously when Adam looks away after the lats question.

"So it's a girl, yes?"

"A very special girl, Sebastian... I can see it in his eyes."

"You want to bring her back even if it means sacrificing everything."

"But how much are you prepared to give? How much is she worth to you?"

"I'll do anything it takes to bring her back."- Adam answers, fighting back the rage and tears burning his eyes.

"Then you need to get something for us, Adam Milligan."

"How do you know my name?"

"We know more than you think, boy."

"You need to get a stone, a very important stone, and in return we'll bring your one and only back good as new."

"I just need to get a stone? Where do I find it?"

"It's not just a stone, you ignorant child."

"Hush, Sebastian, don't make him even more angry, he might try to kill us."- the older demon jokes.

"You need to go into Lucifer's Cage and get his soul stone, the stone that holds all his power."

"A stone with a soul inside of it?"

"Indeed, young one. You will fetch it for us in one week or you'll never see your love again."

"How do I get the stone?"- he asks impatiently.

"Oh, that's simple... You kill Lucifer and rip it out of his chest."

"Yes, yes, it should be easy enough for someone with your power."

"So I basically have to rip Satan's heart out to get her back?"- Adam deduces, trying to figure out how that sentence could sound more ridiculous.

"The Devil has no heart, boy! You either get the stone or sign a one way ticket for a cruise with him and Michael, right in the Cage!"

"Sebastian, go with our friend and clean these, will you?"- the older demon shoves the sacks into the other ones hands and nods softly, then he turns to Adam,-"You'd better get going if you want to tell her parents."

Then it hits him, the only thing he hasn't thought about doing is telling Dean and Cas that their daughter is dead, and there's nothing they can do to bring her back except help him kill the most powerful monster in all of Purgatory and Hell combined. He realises that they will probably be devastated, even though they've known her for just a few days. But, she is their child, and she's dead... He doesn't even know how to begin to tell them about her death. Does he say 'I'm sorry', or what?

"Go then, child. My patience and good will towards you are growing thin. And remember..."- the demon points his finger towards the wrist of his left hand,-"One week to go."

And with that, he disappears into a large cloud of black smoke and leaves Adam alone with his thoughts.

When he finally gets to the cave, Adam notices that Dean and Cas are inside. They're cleaning something large and furry, but he can't tell what it is from so far away. He coughs to announce his presence when he's almost reached the main cave room.

"Oh hey, Adam."- Dean says rather cheerfully,-"We caught a werewolf on the way here, look how big this sucker is."

"That's great, Dean..."- Adam says quietly, sitting down next to him and Cas, who's looking at him suspiciously.

"Where's Anya?"- asks Cas in a worried tone.

"I... Well... I don't know how to... Something happened."- he mumbles, holding back his tears of both sadness and anger over the loss of her.

"Adam, where is she?"- Dean asks seriously, putting down the bloody knife he was using to skin the beast.

"She's dead..."- Cas answers quietly, looking into Adam's sad eyes and reading his thoughts.

"Nah, she can't be..."- says Dean, sure of the fact that angels can't die unless they're stabbed with an angel dagger, which is a rare weapon in Purgatory.

"It's true..."- Adam adds, still bowing his head down in a desperate attempt to fight off his tears that are starting to burn his eyes more than before. It's just now hit him that Anya is really gone, and that he isn't the only person who's suffering because of it.

"How?"- Dean asks coldly, looking into Cas' eyes. He notices that they're not glowing optimistically like they were last night, but that's understandable.

"Hell hounds attacked us... She managed to kill the one ripping me to shreds, but the other one got her before I could kill it. She... She bled out... She died in my hands and there wasn't anything I could do to help her."- Adam answers through tears and long pauses,-"I'm so...so sorry."

"She died protecting you?"- Dean raises his voice,-"My... she died because you couldn't protect her!"

"Dean..."- Cas tries to calm him down, but he's cut off by Adam.

"I've been protecting her ever since we met! I was here, I was always here! Where were you?"- he screams, jumping up after Dean does so too,-"Where were you when she needed protecting?"

"Don't put this on me! This was your fault, she's dead because of you!"

"Dean!"- Cas yells out, louder than both him and Adam, and they stop shouting momentarily,-"Shut up!"

"She's dead..."- Dean says weakly,-"And we just found her. She's dead and we didn't even get a chance to love her."

"I can get her back."- Adam says quietly, avoiding the start of what's promising to be a large fight.

"How in the hell do you plan on bringing a hybrid, or what ever, back from the dead?"

"Easy.."- he answers,-"I'm gonna kill Satan and sell his soul to the demons."


End file.
